Former prisons boss #LindaMti hands himself over to police

Johannesburg - Former prisons boss Linda Mti has officially handed himself over to the Pretoria Central Police Station.

Mti is expected to appear the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court on Thursday afternoon.

He, along with former Bosasa officials, have been charged with corruption, fraud and money laundering.

Mti's appearance will follow that of former Bosasa officials Angelo Agrizzi and Andries van Tonder and former correctional services CFO Patrick Gillingham.

The three made a short appearance at the same court on Wednesday and they were released on R20 000 bail. Their next appearance will be on March 27.

Bosasa, now known as African Global Operations, and its subsidiaries Sondolo IT and Phezulu Fencing have also been charged.

The Hawks said the charges are linked to tenders that were awarded by the Department of Correctional Services to Bosasa. The Hawks' investigation found that about R1.6 billion had been misappropriated in the procurement of services by the Department of Correctional Services.

The accused had allegedly received bribes in form of cash, purchasing properties, purchasing cars and other assets. The suspects also received payments for overseas holidays.

Two weeks ago, the state capture inquiry began hearing testimonies from whistleblowers on wide-spread corruption at Bosasa. Agrizzi and various other Bosasa employees took the stand and shared details about how government officials were bribed in order for Bosasa to score contracts with the department of correctional services.

Agrizzi told the inquiry how officials such as Mti and Gillingham were bribed with money and expensive gifts.

Mti and Gillingham had their houses built by Bosasa. Gillingham had cars bought for him by Bosasa and for his wife and children.

Gillingham was allegedly paid over R100 000 a month and Mti R64 000 a month.